BURBANK — The best players know how to take the familiar and use their own flair, style and meaning to imprint their own stamp or signature.

Bremen is a fixed presence every late August. The surroundings are suffused with recognizable faces, people, even school colors. Six-of-eight Windy City Ram Classic quarterfinalists come from either the Blue or Red divisions of the South Suburban Conference. Three of the four semifinalists play there.

Ricardo Avalos has been the brightest object. A year ago he scored three goals to power the Braves’ 5-2 victory over Cristo Rey in the championship game at Toyota Park.

Now he is back, as good as ever and causing all manner of difficulties for Bremen’s opposition.

Avalos scored two second half goals as the efficient and rigorous Braves amped up the pressure and tempo for the impressive 2-0 victory over Shepard in the second semifinal of the Windy City Ram Classic on Monday at Reavis.

Bremen (4-0-0) advances for the title against Oak Lawn on Wednesday at Toyota Park.

“Bremen’s a very good team,” Shepard coach Frank Marek said. “They’re no. 1 in our area, and no. 1 for a reason.”

Avalos wears No. 13 which is only unlucky for the other side. He earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the match for his accomplishments and wore out the Astros’ backline, applying constant pressure and rarely allowing them to recover, much less counter.

With eight starters back, coach Steve Granat employed new initiatives and alterations to the attack.

“We want to run,” Granat said. “We can get that ball 18 to 18 now, and we are trying to get the ball up the field as quickly as possible. That is the strength of the team, with our wing play and our central midfielders. They are mostly seniors there, with one junior, and they just know what to do with the ball.”

Avalos is the frontman on the team’s 4-5-1 formation. His speed and ability to break down defenses is the crucial weapon of the Braves’ attack. During a first half, packed with incident, Avalos set the dominant tone. He blasted up-close shots, almost bending the ball with his might and will. It served a purpose.

“Even though the shots did not go in, it just meant we had to keep up the momentum,” Avalos said. “We just had to try harder and get even more shots to go in.”

Bremen midfielder Cristian Lopez, the key facilitator of their attack, seconded the idea.

“Last year we started off slowly with everybody, and then we came out. We’re a second half team,” Lopez said. “This year we want to attack quicker and make a team fear us. Once you hit a team’s goal a couple of times they are just going to try and defend.”

Shepard (3-1-0) played well. The Astros advanced further than any previous year. They had to absorb the early pressure and match the Braves’ speed and intensity. They succeeded for the most part.

“We had some good opportunities,” Marek said. “They just were not going in the back of the net. The whole team played pretty well. The effort was there, the intensity was there. It just didn’t bounce our way. We worked hard the whole game.”

Late in the first half forward Michael Iturbe blasted back-to-back free-kicks that sailed just wide off frame.

“It’s one of those special things that we try to do,” Iturbe said. “When it’s a long free-kick we try to put in on frame, and if it does not go in, we try to be there for the rebound.”

“I thought in the first half we played well,” Kaczmarczyk said. “We possessed, but in that final third, the final killer pass that we needed, just wasn’t there for us. The final pass just wasn’t there for us to finish.”

Bremen finally broke through in the 40th minute. Off a corner, Lopez elevated and recorded the first touch, heading a ball off the crossbar that found Avalos perfectly positioned for the header rebound.

“Cristian hit it well, and I was able to finish it,” Avalos said.

Bremen maintained the pressure, and Avalos and Lopez alternated by smashing rocket balls — hard, low and ferocious — that played to the Braves’ strengths. Shepard was on the defensive and rarely able to generate an attack of its own.

“We have pretty much the same team as last year,” Lopez said. “We are pretty comfortable playing with each other and other teams have lost a lot from last year and they are moving new players around.”

Junior forward Anthony Valencia generated the Astros’ best scoring chance midway through the second half with a hard ball pushed just wide of the near post.

Avalos put the game away with another through ball from Lopez that he worked down the left flank, crossing quickly against the grain and delivering another howitzer moving left to right that broke perfectly and cut inside the near post in the 65th minute.

“We really wanted it more this year, to get the title back and be the first team to win the tournament two years in a row,” Avalos said.

The Braves’ speed, skill and dominance up-front helps compensate for a youthful and retooled backline that starts three sophomores. Experience is the great equalizer.

“We’re mature up front,” Granat said. “With the backline, we put down the gauntlet, and they have really stepped up. Right now it’s all about confidence. We are building confidence with each game, and they are stepping up. They are starting to listen, talk and really jell back there.”

Shepard looks to rebound in the third place game against Bloom on Wednesday at Reavis.

“We’re already on the board,” Kaczmarczyk said. “We’re putting our name out there. Last year coming off just a few wins, nobody ever thought Shepard would go to the final four of this tournament.”